A limited number of U.S. drivers of Mercedes-Benz electric vehicles will soon have access to Drive Pilot, a driver assistance system that, according to Mercedes, allows drivers to take their eyes off the road in certain situations.
Drive Pilot promises to enhance autonomous driving capabilities as it is what Mercedes claims to be a Level 3 SAE system that provides “conditionally automated driving.” In this case, it means that drivers can take their hands off the wheel at low speeds on pre-mapped highways and also divert their gaze from the road, something not allowed with Level 2 systems.
Drive Pilot was launched in Germany last year, but this week Mercedes announced it had received regulatory approval to deploy the system in California and Nevada. With that regulatory hurdle cleared, what Mercedes calls the “production-ready” version of Drive Pilot will roll out later this year, starting with a “limited fleet” of EQS cars, followed by a broader launch in early 2024.
According to a Mercedes press release, Drive Pilot will be installed in the 2024 model year versions of both the EQS and the gasoline-powered S-Class sedan, and it will be activated through the Mercedes Me Connect app store. Because Drive Pilot has only received formal approval in California and Nevada, vehicles equipped with the system will only be sold through participating dealerships in those states.
The pricing starts at $2,500 for an annual subscription. Mercedes claims a subscription model is more appropriate as it offers greater flexibility to customers. If an EQS or S-Class owner moves to another state where the system is not approved or to an area without the mapped roads necessary for the system to operate, they can simply stop paying the subscription, says Mercedes.
However, Drive Pilot is not just software. It includes additional sensors in addition to those already offered in the driver assistance package for the EQS sedan and the S-Class. These include lidar, a rear-window camera, microphones to detect emergency vehicle sirens, and a road moisture sensor in the wheel well. Cars equipped with Drive Pilot also have redundant steering and braking hardware, in addition to large buttons on the steering wheel to activate and deactivate the system.
Such a system aligns with the EQS’s tech-centric personality, which has been a flagship for technology from the start. Mercedes has teased that Drive Pilot is also on the way for other models, potentially including a smaller electric production vehicle based on the recently showcased Concept CLA-Class at the 2023 Munich Auto Show.
Tesla’s driver assistance systems have attracted a lot of regulatory attention. Earlier this year, the NHTSA noted that the system posed an “unreasonable risk to vehicle safety.”
